The Women's Game 07/21/25: Euros Quarterfinals Chaos with Lindsey Heaps

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0:46Sam Mewis:Welcome to a Men in Blazers pod special. I'm not going to slow roll this. I've got a case of Euros fever and I've got it bad. That's right, the Women's Euros is happening right now. we're down to the business end of the tournament the semi-finals loom tomorrow and I've got to say this this tournament has been one of the pure footballing highlights of my entire summer seeing the size of the crowds the joy the passion fan out across Switzerland the dizzying atmospheres in that quite remarkable football nation where women's football is going from strength to strength something else has brought me so much joy the coverage that our women's game team has brought across the competition from the very beginning, covering every single kick of the ball, all led by a quite singular Sam Mewis.

1:33Sam Mewis:And so today, on the eve of the semifinals, we wanted to play the latest episode for you, featuring none other than that American captain, Lindsay Heaps, breaking down the tournament, talking about so many of the players she competes with week in, week out, at a club team, Ole Onay. And we've also just got one to ask. If you like what you hear, go and subscribe to the women's game. across platform, support their YouTube, their pod feed, all the socials at Women's Game MIB. But without further delay, here it is. The Women's Game Euros 2025 special with the incredible Sam Mewis and that American captain, Lindsay Heaps.

2:18Lindsey Heaps:Hi, everybody, and welcome to the Women's Game. This is a Euros check-in pod as we are right smack in the middle of the quarterfinals. Today, I am so happy to be joined by who's probably the greatest American Euros expert of all time. It's U.S. Women's National Team captain, Lindsay Heaps. Linda, welcome to the show. Thanks for being here.

2:38Sam Mewis:Thank you. I hope you keep that opinion of me after this.

2:41Lindsey Heaps:I think I will. I think I definitely will. Before we get into the Euros, though, I want to catch up quickly on your summer in the States. You're in offseason for your club team. France is O.L. Lyonnais. Is that how you guys are saying it now?

2:53Sam Mewis:I think it's still pronounced Lyonnais. because you don't pronounce the last letter. But yeah, we changed everything.

2:58Lindsey Heaps:Yeah. Okay. All right. So this is the official pronunciation. O-L-E-N-A. Could be wrong. You're not wrong. As I said, you are the expert. We're going to trust you. You're in off season for O-L-E-N-A. We saw you at the U.S. Women's National Team game in your hometown of Denver just a few weeks ago. But you were watching from the stands because head coach Emma Hayes decided to give all the European-based players a rest during the last camp. That meant for the first time in a long time, you were on the outside watching these games. What was that like for you?

3:25Sam Mewis:terrible yeah terrible um I knew it was gonna be terrible I didn't really like one bit of it I thought it was cool to to watch the game from a different view and see you know our team is shining right now there's a lot of young individuals shining new players shining and yeah it was it was cool for me in a different way but I don't really ever want to do that again

3:49Lindsey Heaps:no let's not make a habit of it Emma we're we'll have everybody back now please um okay so So how has your summer been overall? I know you're watching the Euros from San Diego where your husband Tyler is. I imagine your days are just gym, beach, Euros.

4:03Sam Mewis:Dude, you know me. Yeah, I'm still working out. Got to do my lifts, my Pilates, my running. But it's been, I think offseason is just nice because you can be on your own schedule. And that's where I thrive. I think you know me. I'm a junkie when it comes to my offseason and in my training. So I love being on my own schedule. And then I also love seeing my husband. It's a wild world seeing your husband for more than like seven days, you know?

4:37Lindsey Heaps:Oh my gosh, I know. Well, I'm so happy that you're enjoying this time. I want to get into the Euros. Obviously, this tournament started a couple weeks ago. If you can think all the way back to before the tournament started, coming into it, who would you say your favorites were?

4:49Sam Mewis:I always am rooting for my friends, first and foremost. Like anyone that's playing that I've played with, I will root for them. So it's been hard for me because like I really wanted it for Sweden because Kos Aslani, she's a long, long time friend. And I think that's this is like a trophy that she deserves. And I was I was so bummed for her. And she had such a great tournament and her being captain. It's just like crazy to see her her career. We both say that to each other. So Sweden was a top pick for me. England was the top pick for me. Spain will always be up there. And then I would throw France in there.

5:30Sam Mewis:But I was like back and forth with France because of their decision making. You see how they're doing. And now I'm Poland for them. I think they can do it.

5:40Lindsey Heaps:I know. Okay, well, let's stay on France for a little bit. Obviously, you play at Lyon with a lot of the French national team players. And this French team, like you said, has been crushing it in terms of the narrative of their story of everything coming into the tournament, but also just their speed of play. They look fast and fresh. When the coach, as you mentioned, Lindsay, Laurent Bonaday, left some real titans of this team off the roster. It left a lot of pressure on these young players, but they've looked up to the challenge. They've been exceeding expectations. Did you have a sense this past season at OL that France as a national team was getting ready to really compete to win this trophy?

6:16Lindsey Heaps:Like who among your teammates seemed the most mentally ready for the Euros?

6:20Sam Mewis:I'm going to be honest here, Wendy. And she's not there. And so this is the crazy thing to me. I go back and forth because you're making such a bold decision. But I think like you always kind of look to your leader, to your to your captain and how they're they're prepping, performing and then getting ready for for the summer. And I've always looked at her like that kind of player, that kind of that kind of person. and she's always prepping for that next thing. And I was kind of out of the loop, you know, our last few days in Lyon when the decision was made. And I was just like, I'm sorry, there's no way.

6:54Sam Mewis:It's just like not possible. And we could get into so much conversation with that, with, you know, Eugenie and Kenza Dali here in San Diego. But again, he made his decision. And now I look at this French team and to answer your question, I would say no. Like I've, I personally just like didn't, didn't see it happening for them, especially without some of their leaders. And then you watch the first few games and I'm like so impressed. And then my whole, I was talking to Julie Ertz about this. Cause I was like, at the beginning, I was like, how dare you not take Wendy or you or Kenza. I was so angry and maybe more so because they're, they're also my friends.

7:33Sam Mewis:But then I put that aside and I was like, okay, just look at it from like a footballing lens and, and the coach made a decision. And now I'm like, wow, this is like a new, a new team I haven't seen before and like the excitement the the joy that they're playing with a little bit of freedom um I feel like they've let go of a little bit maybe like the pressures maybe they think the pressure's on them or the pressure's off them I don't know how they view it but um I don't know it's just like it's different than I've ever seen before I know I completely

8:04Lindsey Heaps:agree and I've had all the same emotional reactions to like how could you possibly leave these veteran leaders stalwarts of this team for a decade off of this really important roster. And it's a hard one to grapple with as we watch France do so well. One team that I am just so excited to get into talking about is Italy. They've got this really fluid style of play. They have a really strong midfield and a fierce attacking line spearheaded by captain Christiana Giorelli and Sofia Cantore, who some listeners may know because she recently became the first Italian to sign for an NWCL team, the Washington Spirit.

8:38Lindsey Heaps:Italy were in a fairly open group alongside Portugal, Belgium, and Spain. They did lose to Spain in their third group stage game, but they moved on. And as we saw in their quarterfinal game against Norway, they didn't let that loss to Spain dent their confidence at all. Italy actually overwhelmed Norway in their quarterfinal game earlier this week. And Italy is a team who hasn't really been competitive in the last few years. They flamed out at the last Euros and at the World Cup. Some have even written that as other european teams have gotten better italy has just lagged way behind they came in here with something to prove and you can see it on their faces with every single goal they score they're proving to themselves that they belong here that they want to keep going this tournament lindsay i'm so curious how you think being kind of a dark horse and an underdog has really motivated this italian team

9:23Sam Mewis:to show up the way they have yeah it's funny i think back to like uh like what you were just saying all the probably games and performances leading up to this tournament that people are questioning them or saying that they've gone downhill or whatever I think it's so it's so crazy when you get into tournament mode we know like that's just you can't even think about that it was the same in the last world cup with some of these teams that were performing so well or even in the olympics it's just like this is tournament mode like the games are so different performances are so different and you're you're you're preparing and you're training literally to win one game at a time and just keep moving forward in the tournament and I feel like for Italy like that's exactly what they're doing and like their mentality in each game is so cool and so like it sounds so cliche but it's so inspiring I think it's like you see it as soon as they step out and they they're singing their national anthem like they're literally all together how they celebrate goals like they want to win so bad and like prove to their country so badly like they deserve to be there and they can keep going forward so again it's just like people have to understand that tournament mode is so different we can go back to the 2019 and say that is anyone talking about how we performed against spain or france like some parts of that game were horrible we made it through sometimes you just gotta get through

10:54Lindsey Heaps:we were just talking about this recently i think i was talking about it with crystal how our run in that tournament was literally this is a side note was so hard we played spain france england and then the netherlands and i don't know that was crazy honestly i did want to ask you if you've seen italy's um they're like their team song is unwritten by natasha Biddingfield. So like when they won their quarterfinal, did you see them all singing? No. It's like so cute. They're like singing unwritten in Italian accents and like, they're so excited. It's so cute. Almost all of these Italian players play their professional soccer in Italy.

11:31Lindsey Heaps:They also have a new Italian coach. And like we're talking about, they're just so fun to watch. Their fans are having fun. They're so passionate. And I think like the Italian league isn't necessarily top of mind when we're talking about the best leagues for women in the world. Their top flight only went fully professional in 2022. They do have a good base of fans because there's a lot of obviously history of football in Italy, but they do have a long way to go to catch up to the WSL in England or the NWSL here. You first played, Lindsay, in what was a pretty new NWSL after the US Women's National Team 2015 World Cup win.

12:04Lindsey Heaps:I feel like we saw firsthand how much that win like boosted and bolstered the NWSL. Can you talk a little bit about how the strong performance from Italy at this tournament will help bolster their domestic league?

12:18Sam Mewis:Well, one, you start recognizing more players. Obviously, I think just around the country when after we won 2019, and I'm sure for the players that won in 2015 as well. But, you know, Rose scores a goal in the World Cup final. Like, everyone wants to come see Rose now. Like, you're watching all these games on the greatest stage. And now you're obviously, it's more accessible to now come watch them in the NWSL. It's like pretty easy idea there. When you watch Italy play, or you watch some of these teams play, and you see these big-time goals going in, or you see performances like that in Italy's win over Norway, it's like, where does this player...

12:54Sam Mewis:I'm always like this. I'm like, okay, where does this player play? Exactly. I go on my FopMob, my favorite app, and I'm like, okay, where did they play? What position? How old are they? How long have they been there? I'm looking up everything. I think for a lot of people, maybe it's like that, maybe it's not, but at least they're looking up where they're playing, and it's like, oh, I could go watch them at AS Roma? No way. And oh, there's a professional league here in Italy. And I think hopefully that's the case for them. Now they're in a semifinal. Like, I think it has to be boosting a little bit.

13:24Sam Mewis:And I think even in the Italian league right now, like Juventus and AS Roma, like you see it accelerating a little bit, especially in Champions League.

13:33Lindsey Heaps:Definitely. That's such a good point. That was also a rousing recommendation for the app ThoughtMob, which I think all of our listeners are going to be fascinated by. best app ever it sounds like you have a future in media like you've we need you on the team like looking up the stats and giving research and doing podcasts so come on and join us someday i would love to we're gonna talk about norway a little bit heading into this tournament i wouldn't have said that italy would beat norway but as the games went on i think it became more and more clear that italy was kind of riding this wave of momentum and energy and norway was like kind of just petering along.

14:07Lindsey Heaps:And this is a Norway team with Ada Hagerberg, Guru Wright and Caroline Grimhansen. They're some of the best players in the world. They play for some of the best clubs in the world. Chelsea, Lyon, Barcelona. Talk to us about Norway's performance. I was disappointed. Why do you think they couldn't pull it together with such talent for the national team?

14:24Sam Mewis:I've talked to Ada a lot about it. I was really bummed for her because I think, you know, she's had a crazy career on her national team as well. You know, obviously leaving it and then coming back and now becoming captain which I think was the right decision by their their coach going into this tournament because I think that's a leader that you want to look to in the game someone that's going to get the goal for you even like missing a PK and then scoring the the next goal like that was a huge moment for her and for the team and for me I like just don't see a fight I don't see enough players like her being like we we need to go win this game the mentality piece is so weird to me and I'm like you have I look at the at least the front line or front four or five players I'm like you have some of the best players in the world these are all on top five European team I see one player out there like guys that's like and that's Ada and I'm like where where is her help and again I don't know I'm not inside their locker room I'm not on the field and it's again like we said it's really hard in the tournament it is like no matter who you're playing it is hard but yeah the the mentality piece I just feel like was maybe missing a little

15:32Lindsey Heaps:bit I yeah I agree I think that watching Norway get through their group stage with three wins but without ever actually giving like a definitive performance they kind of just got there and going into it it was just kind of like yeah I think Italy's gonna win Italy wants it more it's tough to always bring it back to the mentality piece as U.S. women's national teamers because I know we know how important it is and i i actually think it in this instance it's true and i think you're bringing up ada somebody who we spoke to actually earlier this year about how excited she was for this tournament for this opportunity to captain this team i know she missed the pk i know she then scored moments later to to keep them in it the missed pk still kind of hangs in the air but i i agree with you that ada was putting her body on the line fighting for this game so as somebody you, Lindsay, who has captained the U.S.

16:24Lindsey Heaps:team through both heartbreaking losses in world tournaments and victory, winning the Olympics, can you speak a little bit to the pressure on Ada, maybe the pressure that she put on herself as her current teammate? And then I guess, like, what would you say to her today as she's just lost and she's, like, dealing with this heartbreak?

16:43Sam Mewis:I always look at it as, like, you are the one people look to, your body language, your voice, how confident you look and I spoke a lot about this with Emma actually like tweaking little things because you know I could be frustrated with myself on the field and have like my demeanor is a little bit off and someone could look at me and think like that it's about that either I'm yeah it's about them it's about our performance it's whatever so I think it's a little bit more pressure and thought process in that way and but like when I was watching the game I do watch her closely and I I watch a lot of captains out there because I like to learn from other players and other leaders and I want to see their their demeanor on the field and like how they captain their team I think it's really cool and for for me when I watch auto I was like she'd always focus like even after she scores a goal she goes and celebrates but she's like okay next one people can judge that or or have their opinions on it but I'm like um I do appreciate that in that uh in that sense and I know Ada well so I know what she's thinking and probably what's going through her head but I do think there's a lot of pressure on on her especially because I don't see a lot of players on the field helping her so I think a lot of people are looking to her I'm sure she's helping each individual I mean they had a lot of young players out there and a lot of new players out there so I think that's that's probably really difficult but you know what I would say to Ada today is like she she should be proud of you know what her and her country has done like getting out the group with three wins like like they had done you know some people might say the group was easy whatever it's never easy I'm sorry it's not like no matter what tournament you're in it's not easy some of her performances the goals that she scored it's it it's remarkable and especially with like a lot of hard things that have happened in this this past year in her career or with her national team like she should be very proud of that so I hope she does know that and I'm sure when you all

18:40Lindsey Heaps:get back to club together you'll deliver that message to her in person sadly norway are going home italy will face england in the semi-final who beat sweden in the craziest game we've all ever seen earlier this week they barely won england were my favorites heading into this tournament just because i played there and i have a lot of friends on the team england are also the defending euros champions um and all those players are like we all know their names they're stars for their clubs but they have been terrifying to be rooting for they lost their first group game to France they did bounce back they looked strong in their other two games in group play but then this quarterfinal against Sweden starts and Sweden scores immediately controls the game for the whole first half going into halftime up two to nothing England just looked lost in the first half I do want to ask you specifically and you mentioned Kos Aslany a little bit earlier in the show your longtime teammate good friend her first goal such a statement goal such a I think like Sweden's pressure high up the field obviously caused a lot of turnovers in England's back line early on in the game but tell us a little bit about Kos and what you remember about her first goal what makes

19:46Sam Mewis:her such a special player for Sweden I've known Kos for 10 plus years now like when I first got to PSG you know she was there and uh I've said this many times we didn't get on well at the beginning because our uh our personalities like didn't really match up and then once once Tobin came then we all kind of like were forced friends and then I was like oh Kosa is actually kind of cool um and I've told her this many times but anyway then you start um seeing her as a player and now her development through the Swedish national team which is really cool because you had a a captain like you know Caroline Sager who I mean she is one of the best captain best leaders that I've ever seen, ever played with.

20:30Sam Mewis:And so I think it's a really hard role to then take on for Kos. I feel like it's almost similar with me and Becky because I looked up to Becky so much and I'm like, how can I be what she was or in my own way, you know? But Kos has done such a great job and then going out and scoring goals like she's had or assists that she's had or performances she's had, like it's been such a cool thing to see. and more of the reason that I was so pissed off when she got subbed. I was like, that is a person you keep on the field in that moment. Like, you've given her rest throughout this tournament. Don't take her off yet.

21:06Sam Mewis:Please don't. So that was such a bummer because I actually, I might have heard you guys talk about this or people have talked about this. Like, Sweden, like, they keep, like, inching closer and closer to that trophy or the major tournament, and they just can't get it. And I was like, this is the one. Like, they have a good leader. They have a good team. And yeah, so what a bummer.

21:29Lindsey Heaps:Well, I'm interested that you bring up the substitutions because I do think that Sweden had such clear control of the game in the first half. They go into halftime up two goals. We keep hearing that no team has ever come back from a 2-0 deficit in a Euros knockout game. What happened to Sweden in the second half?

21:49Sam Mewis:I was bummed because it looked like they were like, hey we have the the two goals we're good we're gonna let England kind of control the game a bit more he made his decision he he had his tactics or whatever but I think changing too much too quickly is like this is gonna be this is the 2-0 we all know this is the scariest score line you score one goal and momentum a gentleman and that's exactly what you saw when Lucy scored it's like you knew England was gonna score again you knew it also part of the reason England won was like I think Serena outcoached him. Her subs were on point. Her subs made a huge difference.